Portal: One Plus One Equals One
by FeeptheNinja
Summary: They were more connected than anyone had dared to think about...
1. Chapter 1

[ Portal: 1+1=1 ]

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Understandably, Chell hated science.

Well, _some _sciences. For example, she could do without robotics. Or chemistry. Also, psychology was a no.

But everything else was okay. So long as it didn't involve crazy experiments, deadly gel, or crazy AND deadly supercomputers, she was fine with it.

Although, she was starting to consider psychology after suddenly feeling extreme confusion tinged with a bit of fear when looking down at her Cheerios one morning.

It had been one of quite a few instances, in fact. For example, acute satisfaction and pride after- of all things- hanging up her coat one evening. But the feelings left as soon as they'd come, usually only leaving her _own_ confusion behind. Like as to why such a simple act would trigger a feeling like she'd done something completely right that she'd been _trying _to do for quite some time. Hanging up her clothing was not exactly what you'd call tough.

Where were we- oh yes, fear of Cheerios. Chell- as usual- just tried to shake it off, and went to go get dressed for the day.

But as she was leaving to do some shopping- It felt like her stomach had just bottomed out. Her heart started thumping. Her mouth went dry. One thought shot like a rocket through her head:

_Oh my god, I'm going to die!_

And then it was gone. Leaving her staring dumbfounded at her door, trying to figure out how she had fathomed it would kill her. She shakily locked the door, and resumed with her day.

Or, at least tried to. But random irrational emotion attacks _do _sort of put a damper on one's day. Just a little.

When she returned home, she was absolutely exhausted. Which was unusual in itself, seeing as she would rarely become this tired normally. But she didn't question this at all, rightfully assuming that her constant worry over the 'attacks' had tired her out. So she walked into her bedroom, flopped down on the bed, and was asleep within minutes.

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_Where the hell was she? _She… couldn't ever remember being here. Yet she had the strong sense that she'd been here before- that she knew this place. Like the back of her hand, actually…

_Oh God, she was upside down! _She **was **upside down- but this was not accompanied by the usual feeling of blood rushing to the head. In fact… she seriously doubted having blood at all. Wait. What?

There were some scientists in the room that she could now see. Upon seeing them, bile rose in her throat. Oh, she was _tremendously _pissed at them. But… she had no idea who they even were. Why was she…?

Suddenly the hate transformed into pain. Searing hot pain- all over her body and into her muscles although she was fairly convinced that she didn't **have **muscles and just what the hell was going on and _oh God, this hurts make it stop-_

It stopped. And suddenly the hate transmuted into something else entirely- fear. Fear that coiled in her stomach like a serpent.

_They were probably going to kill her, and she could do nothing about it._

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Chell awoke with her heart pounding in her chest. Her sheets- as well as her body- were soaked in sweat, and she was breathing as if she'd just run a marathon. So it had been a nightmare. Just a nightmare.

A frighteningly _real _nightmare…

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**Yup. Starting something else I'll probably never finish. Because of my writer's block.**

**JOY. COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF JOY. DX**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The whole next day, Chell had a sense that something was… off. She didn't have any panic attacks, thank the gods, but she just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something _wrong_. Colossally wrong.

That day in class, her attention kept drifting from the professor. She kept thinking about… other things. Just other things- like what she was going to do after class, when she was going to lunch. After snapping back to attention for what seemed like the 80th time, her friend Sarah (whom was sitting across from her) noticed.

"Chell. Is there something wrong?" she whispered worriedly. "You're never this spacey in class, like _ever_!" Chell shook her head. "You sure? Well… okay…" Her friend turned back towards the professor, leaving Chell to think.

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After class, Chell started to walk in the direction of her next class. Sarah caught up with her in the hallway, exclaiming "Chell! Wait up!"

As she fell into step with Chell, she once again asked if Chell was quite alright. Chell shrugged, and then nodded. Sarah seemed to be satisfied with this answer and was silent again.

But as they rounded the corner, Sarah gained a look of puzzlement on her face. "Chell… isn't your next class Home Ec.?" Chell nodded.

"Then… why are we going to Chemistry?" she asked. Chell froze and for the first time looked where she was going. They were, in fact, right outside the door to Chemistry.

"I thought you _hated _Chemistry!" Sarah said. Chell nodded furiously. She _did _hate Chemistry… but then why had she come here? She glanced up at the clock, and saw that there was no time to get to Home Ec. Heaving a resigned sigh, she opened the door and trudged in. She might as well sit in on it…

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There was never a more surprised person than Chell when she found out it was really _interesting_. And it was also pretty cool. But then why, she had asked herself, did she hate it so passionately the week before? And how did she just randomly begin to like it? She pondered this as she walked out of the school grounds with Sarah- and she almost fell face-first down the steps. She hadn't been looking where she was going, and had been about to walk two steps down.

"Chell. Are you _absolutely sure_ that you're alright?" Sarah said even more worriedly than before. "You are never like this! Ever! I think you should go home and get some rest…" she said.

"Sarah… I'm fine…" Chell said quietly. She turned away and started slowly walking home.

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Chell walked inside her house and plopped down on the couch. She started thinking again about what had happened. Now how, in the name of all gods, did she end up walking to chemistry? It wasn't even on the same side of the school as her other classes. But she had walked there all the same. She vaguely remembered even _wanting _to go there for a few seconds… but…

Suddenly she sat straight up. She remembered where the hell she'd been in her nightmare. She'd… she'd…

She'd been at Aperture. In the Enrichment Centre. She was sure of it.

But, she thought, she _didn't _know the whole Enrichment Centre like the back of her hand. In fact, she was pretty sure that she only knew about 0.001% of it. So then…

Her breath caught in her throat. Of course. _She _didn't know every corridor by heart.

But someone else did.

Someone else _did _know the Enrichment Centre like the back of her metaphorical hand. Someone else didn't have blood, or muscles. Someone else hung upside down. Someone else had a perfectly good reason to be pissed as all hell at scientists in general.

_Someone else _loved chemistry and science.

And the more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself that she'd been dreaming as GLaDOS.

But... _how_?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

How. How in the _world _was she able to dream as GLaDOS? GLaDOS wasn't even _human_! , she yelled at herself as she paced in her living room. But the more she tried to convince herself otherwise, the more she knew it was right.

But the real question was, not why had she dreamt as the AI… Chell was sure that _She _had had something to do with her strange panic attacks too. After all, she was certain that she hadn't been the one convinced that she loved chemistry.

The only problem was it seemed like there was no way that it could have happened. She had been X-rayed before, and there was no chip; she was sure that there weren't any strange substances in her body; she was certain that there were no strange _things _in her body, either. There just wasn't a scientific explanation for it.

No _scientific _explanation for it… but… what if it was something _else_?

Chell shook her head. No. There was _no way _that you could share a supernatural tie with a supercomputer, thank you very much.

But she _swore to god _she had been _completely convinced _that she loved chemistry.

She growled irately to herself. She was just going around in circles. She needed some definite answers; and by god she wasn't going to get them sitting in her living room. She leapt up from the couch and grabbed her backpack. Running around the house, she stuffed a blanket, two changes of clothes, her toothbrush and some snacks into it. She was going to go back. Surely, she reasoned, if She _was _behind this, then she'd at least get some answers there.

She slowed to a stop outside her bedroom. She walked in and opened her closet. As she rummaged around in the corner, her hand brushed against what she was looking for:

Her Long Fall Boots.

She slipped them on, trying to come to terms with their height again; but soon enough she regained her balance, heaved her pack on her shoulder, and ran out the door into the night.

She wanted answers, and _by God _she was going to get them.

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The first thing she saw there sent a sinking feeling deep into the pit of her stomach.

The entrance with a parking lot in it- the one she had blown a _gaping hole through_ the first time around, she remembered- was littered with cars. Trucks, more like. And they were all stamped with an unfamiliar logo; not Black Mesa, but definitely not Aperture, either.

The shed entrance, thankfully, was clear, no one in sight. She slipped inside the elevator and hoped nothing was coming to kill her when she stepped out.

'Oh _jesus_!' was her first thought. She had gotten out of the elevator safely- and managed to run down the corridors without bumping into any guards- but she presumed now that they were all in the central AI chamber.

Which they were.

There appeared to be at least a hundred people in there- although most of them were backed up against the walls- and there was one man- no, a _woman_- standing in the middle of the room with a remote in her hand and a scowl on her face.

And there was one, very frightened-looking AI in the center of the room.

At first, Chell was relieved they hadn't just said 'to hell with it' and blown Her up yet- but the relief was soon blown out of the water with the most absolute sensation of fear she had ever had. It was all she could do to keep from puking on the floor as it passed.

Alright, _that _settled it. GLaDOS definitely had something to do with this. But until the woman down there and her buddies cleared out, she couldn't even get near the AI. And she seemed to be… yelling?

~_Alright, you! I'm going to give you one more chance: tell me where it is! ~_

What. She looked around wildly- she could have sworn that she'd heard the woman speaking! She shakily passed it off as the PA and returned to staring at the scene.

~ _**N-no! I won't! Especially not to yo-AAAAAHHHHH! **_

Oh god that was GLaDOS! Chell swallowed hard as she saw the shock that went through the chassis. She _itched _to run down there and give that woman the what-for, but then she would likely be brutally murdered by those burly guards down there. And she did, apparently, still have survival instincts.

_~Oh, I don't think you have a choice, sweetie. You're going to tell me where it is, or we're going to find some other means of getting you to talk. ~_

Chell grit her teeth. Half of her wished She'd just spit it out and save herself the pain; her other half knew that that was about as likely to happen as rainbows spewing from the woman's mouth.

_~Like, oh, I don't know… your friend? ~_

She could _feel _GLaDOS tense.

~_**Wha-What are you talking about? What friend? ~**_

_~You know. That woman you let go. Her. ~_

_**~I-I don't know who you're talking about. ~**_

_~Ha-ha! Sweetie, you aren't fooling anyone. For her sake, I'd better think you'd talk. ~_

_**~No! Never! Not in a million year- AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! ~**_

_~Well, we gave you a chance. Boys, would you bring her in, please? ~_

Chell was suddenly painfully aware of two men directly behind her. She turned to run- but they had other ideas, apparently.

Chell was fairly certain that being shoved through a glass wall to a floor 39 feet below should feel differently.

She hit the ground painfully on her back, and through the stars in her eyes, she could faintly see GLaDOS writhe as if _She'd _been the one who'd hit the ground, not Chell. Odd…

"Alright, sweetie, I'm done playing around." The woman put her boot directly above Chell's heart. "Tell me. Or your little human buddy leaves the realm of the living."

Through the speakers, Chell heard a sound she'd never thought she'd hear from GLaDOS: a soft whimper.

"A-Alright! I'll tell you! Just don't…"

"Awww. Does the great big computer have a soft spot for little Chelley?" she said in mock baby tone. "Tell me. Now."

As GLaDOS spit out the coordinates of wherever the hell the woman wanted, Chell felt her boot slowly rise off her chest.

"Alright boys, put her out." She said dismissively- and Chell felt a soft prick as a dart hit her shoulder.

What no one in the room could explain was why the AI went limp the instant the human did, without anyone hitting the kill switch.

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**No, not the pairing Chelley. Jeez. **

**Weelll, slightly sappy ChellDOS has been acheived- and will continue to be. Just telling you right here. Y'know, just in case you didn't already know of my extreme adoration of the pairing. XD**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Chell woke up with a pounding in her head and a dry mouth. As she blearily looked about the room, she realized exactly where she was.

Well… not really. She _did _know that she was inside the Enrichment Centre. Probably. And she did know she was in some kind of small cell. But other than that, she did _not_, in fact, know where she was. So strike that last statement.

She noticed that besides the cot that she was currently lying on, and the small card table with… some kind of… well she _thought _it was food… on… it… , there was one other thing in the tiny room.

A desk. Bolted to the floor, of course. And on top of that desk was what looked like a desktop computer monitor.

With wheels. Two in front and one in back.

'Wait, why does a monitor need _wheels_?' thought Chell confusedly. There was also a cord on the back of the monitor that was plugged into an outlet.

Cautiously, Chell walked over to it and inspected it as best she could. It looked like, other than the wheels, there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. There was an Aperture logo on one side of the monitor, at least, so it probably wasn't made by that… _other _company.

"Ma'am."

Speak of the devil. Chell turned around slowly, a glare fixed on her face. In the doorway was a large guard. He looked very uncomfortable all of a sudden, and considering the fact that the expression Chell wore was one known to intimidate wolverines, she wasn't surprised.

"I… uh… am supposed to make sure you aren't trying to escape or… anything like that… and it looks like you're not, so… uh… bye?" He hurried out of the room, dropping something in the process.

Well, Chell thought, when you can make a grown man run in fear…

She returned her attentions to the monitor. More specifically, the power button on the monitor. Shrugging, she reached over to press it. Worst case scenario, it would attempt to kill her. And she was pretty used to that, anyway.

A soft white glow shone from the screen. A familiar logo spun onscreen as she waited for it to boot up. And then…

Oh well _wow_.

There was now a… strange sight on its monitor. There was what _looked_ like a face onscreen- a very simplified one.

Two filled in circles- one bright gold, one steel gray- were obviously eyes.

One upside down 'V' shape looked suspiciously like a mouth.

And two large right-side-up 'V's seemed to act as hands. Or paws. Or things designed to point at things- you know what, moving on now.

And it was staring directly at Chell.

"Wait… waitwaitwait. _What_?" it yelled, surprised and just a bit dismayed.

And now it was Chell's turn to fall over backwards.

That… _thing _was GLaDOS. Somehow. Or at least, it sure _sounded _like Her…

"Why the hell are _you _suddenly taller than _me_?"

Yeah. It was Her.

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Well, at least Chell knew what the wheels were for now. Although, it is sort of an annoying sound when the AI in question uses them for about 15 minutes straight in a sort of pacing motion.

From what Chell could glean from GLaDOS's livid rant, the monitor thing she was currently occupying was a failed version of a core body- supposedly created when the cores got fed up with having no way to get around. And then the management rail was invented, the cores were happy, and the prototype was forgotten. And then somehow the other company got ahold of it and stuck Her into it.

Chell winced and covered her ears as the long- unused wheels let out another angry screech. Or maybe that was GLaDOS. She couldn't really tell. Nonetheless, she would enjoy it _greatly _if it would _stop_, so she picked the fuming AI up off the floor and held her a few feet up. She seemed to get the message and stopped her wheels. And her rant. For the second.

'Those things _really _need some motor oil…' Chell thought with a grimace.

GLaDOS's monitor turned a bit pink. "Oh. Sorry. These things haven't been used in about 450 years. I suppose they _could_ use some oiling."

Chell shrugged and returned Her to the floor. A few minutes of silence passed until GLaDOS spoke up again.

"White Plateau. They're called White Plateau." She gave a sharp, short laugh. "Apparently they've been looking for Aperture for quite some time now. Ever since Black Mesa-" she said the two words with absolute loathing- "gave up. The woman's called Olivia."

Chell gave her a questioning look. One that attempted to convey the message 'why do we care?', and succeeded.

GLaDOS growled irately. "Ever heard the phrase 'Know thine enemy'?"

Oh. That did make sense. Sort of.

And there was silence again.

Chell suddenly found herself growing annoyed at nothing in particular. Slightly alarmed, she glanced down at GLaDOS- who was quite obviously fuming.

That was it. That was _it_! She tapped GLaDOS's hull.

"What." She snarled.

She tapped it again.

"I said. What do you need." She growled again, sounding angrier this time.

Chell tapped her for the third time.

"WHAT?" She yelled- and _then_ Chell felt it. A surge of anger at absolutely nothing.

She was feeling what GLaDOS felt.

Okay, Chell thought, time to see if this goes in the other direction. She focused as hard as she could on being _calm_. If this really worked…

'Breathe in… breathe out…' Chell thought- with no small amount of effort, seeing as GLaDOS was rather worked up.

In about a minute, she looked down at GLaDOS. She didn't seem to be upset anymore, and instead just glanced up at Chell.

"Yes? Something you need?" she said evenly.

'Oh lord,' Chell thought, 'this is actually happening. I share an _emotional tie _with a _supercomputer_.'

'… I wonder if this counts for credits in psychology…'


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Two hours later, both Chell and GLaDOS were bored out of their minds. In order to remedy this, Chell had used the small phone the guard had dropped to ask other random guards if their refrigerator was running. GLaDOS was both experimenting with what exactly she could do (which included being able to use her cord as sort of a whip), and occasionally giving Chell a new line to try.

On their 274th call, a guard removed the phone from the room- or tried to while Chell cursed him out. Eventually, though, he succeeded.

"What I don't get," GLaDOS said a couple minutes after the guard left the room, "Is why you'll talk to pretty much anyone except _me_. It's really getting old."

Chell shrugged. 'Who am I to break tradition?'

GLaDOS gave a long-suffering sigh. "Well, fine then. Be that way. Like I care."

Chell grinned. At least she still knew how to push Her buttons.

"…" GLaDOS looked to be about to say something, then apparently either a. thought better of it, or b. she found something else to occupy her attentions.

Chell was betting heavily on b.

"Someone's coming!" GLaDOS hissed.

Sure enough, someone opened the door not two seconds after GLaDOS proclaimed it.

That 'someone' was a boy who looked about 17. He had slightly spiky brown hair, and amber eyes. He was wearing a suit embossed with the White Plateau logo.

"Uh. Hi. I'm your escort…" He mumbled, also clearly intimidated by the stare he was getting from both AI and woman.

"Wow. Really? _Really_? She sends a teenager to 'escort' us somewhere?" GLaDOS laughed.

"You don't have to laugh…" the boy muttered.

"Y-you _do _know that Chell could probably drop-kick you off of a ledge somewhere?" she said as they began walking. Chell, for the sake of her poor ears, decided that until they got some oil, she'd carry GLaDOS. Even though she was kind of heavy.

"Yes…" he said, now more annoyed than embarrassed.

"They really must not be paying you much."

"Shut up."

"I mean, seriously now. I can see at least 20 ways to get out of this situation, not counting the ones that would include violent dismemberment of your person."

"_Shut up_."

"Waitwaitwait… I see an air vent. 21."

"I am warning you, robot-"

"I prefer the term Artificial Intelligence. Actually, considering my intelligence is quite genuine, 'Your Vast Superior' would do."

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH OR I'LL DO IT FOR YOU!"

"I don't have one."

"Would dropping you off the ledge suffice?" The boy growled.

Chell, although quite entertained by the spectacle, cupped a hand over GLaDOS's 'mouth' to tell Her that he probably meant it.

"Fine." GLaDOS huffed.

As they walked, they noticed they were coming very close to the Central AI Chamber. Chell made a motion to the boy asking if that was where they were going.

"Yes." He said shortly, apparently still mad after GLaDOS's tongue-lashing.

"Oh, she did _not _just set up in my chamber." GLaDOS hissed. Chell gave a half-apologetic shrug, while the boy just ignored Her.

They passed a broken window.

"… 22."

Chell gave the AI a smack on the bottom of the monitor- then immediately regretted it as her own belly stung.

"Ow!" yelped GLaDOS. "Don't _do _that!"

'Don't worry,' she thought, 'I think I've been convinced.'

The boy lagged behind as they strode into the Central AI Chamber. In the middle of the room, instead of a chassis, there was now a desk and revolving chair.

GLaDOS grumbled something under her breath about décor. Everyone ignored her.

"Well," said Olivia as her chair spun around, "Hello there." She smiled a smile too sweet to be trusted.

And for once, Chell and GLaDOS agreed completely on something:

'_This is not good.'_


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